Supreme Court: Report back to us on option to odd-even: SC to Delhi government | India News

NEW DELHI: With toxic air keeping the National Capital Region on a choke hold, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Delhi and its surrounding states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to stop stubble burning forthwith and termed the odd-even formula to curb the number of vehicles on Delhi’s roads as mere “optics”.
Instead, the SC asked Delhi government to explore other options like giving colour codes to cars and barring a few colours on a particular day, and asked it to report back to the court on this.

Highlighting the perennial problem of pollution, particularly during winter, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said residents should not be made to go through this problem year after year, and asked the Centre, Delhi and its neighbouring states to stop the blame game and sit together to explore solutions to the menace. The bench went to the extent of saying that stopping minimum support price (MSP) for paddy could be considered as one of the options. It directed the cabinet secretary to convene a meeting of chief secretaries of Delhi and neighbouring states on Wednesday to explore short- and long-term measures to deal with the crisis.

Justice Kaul said he witnessed widespread stubble burning on both sides of the road while passing through Punjab recently and Delhi’s pollution problem could not be solved without stopping stubble burning. “Delhi cannot be made to go through it year after year,” the bench said and indicated that the case would be taken up for hearing on a weekly basis to monitor progress.
“We want it (stubble burning) stopped. We don’t know how you do it, it’s your job. But it must be stopped. Something has to be done immediately,” the bench said.
As Delhi government’s plan to bring the odd-even scheme was brought to their notice, the justices asked the city government whether it was effective in checking air pollution in previous years. “These are all optics, this is the problem,” the bench said.
The court said unabated stubble burning was one of the main sources of bad air, and asked the Centre and states to consider framing policy to phase out paddy from Punjab by gradually reducing the MSP — the assured price scheme which incentivises farmers to grow paddy — and extending it to alternative crops like millet. After harvesting their paddy crop, farmers burn the stubble to prepare the fields for sowing rabi crops. A large number of farmers have refused to switch to other methods for disposal of stubble, their stubbornness adjudged to be one of the main reasons behind the thick blanket of foul air hanging over the capital and its surrounding areas.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that the Delhi CM had earlier claimed that his government, in association with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, had developed a bio-chemical solution that could convert the stubble into fertiliser. He said the chemical should be used by states as it would be a win-win situation for all. He added that any decision on MSP — whether to continue or withdraw it — was a policy decision that should be left to the government.
The bench did not agree. “Blame game must stop. We do not enter into policy issues but when people are dying, we will,” it said.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, told the bench that successive governments had failed to tackle the pollution crisis which had intensified over the years and only the court’s order could bring succour to the people. Referring to a study done by IIT-Kanpur, she said stubble burning’s contribution to air pollution stood at 20% as against 15% in the case of vehicular pollution.
The Punjab government admitted that stubble burning was one of the main reasons for Delhi’s pollution but told the bench that such incidents had come down by 40% in comparison to last year and assured the court that it would take effective steps to curb the entrenched practice. The court thereafter directed all the states to stop crop burning and said the local SHO and other officers would be held responsible for violation of its order. The court took strong exception to non-functioning smog towers set up on its order and directed the DPCC chairperson to remain present in court on the next date.
“It is stated that the smog tower which has been instituted in pursuance to the directions issued earlier, albeit on experimental basis, is not working. On our query, the answer is some disciplinary action is proposed against an officer, who is chairman of DPCC. This is ludicrous. We want the tower to be working. As to against which officer what they do is their business,” the court said.